Speak out: you might make a difference
A blog post I wrote led to the creation of a $50,000 prize to support stories about women.
Read moregender bias
New $50,000 prize for stories about women
The Half the World Global Literati Prize is a new $50,000 award for a short story, novel, or screenplay written in English—in any genre—that portrays one or more well-rounded female protagonists.
Read moreIntersectional weight penalties — 2015 VIDA count
Yesterday, VIDA published their 2015 count. This year, the count goes intersectional. I am dismayed at how few women writers are succeeding with more than one bias operating against us.
Read moreIntellectual judgement buried in the syllabus
School, at all levels, is where we learn what’s important. The Open Syllabus Project offers a tool to look at the intellectual judgements embedded in our education.
Read moreFilms and TV about women don’t win awards: some data
I analysed the last 25 years’ results for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards for Best Picture (Oscar™), and for the Television Academy’s Prime-Time Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series (Emmy™). The data show that tv shows about women never win, and that films about women almost never win. Women’s stories are not taken seriously.
Read moreWomen characters in film and tv should do more than struggle
I’m tired of my screen choices being to watch a rollercoaster ride about men, or an angsty film or show about a woman struggling because she is a woman. I want to see some fabulously exciting screen stories about women who are simply people.
Read moreScience fiction prize data from 1953 to the present
Over at Ladybusiness, an important, data-heavy post:
“This project demonstrates that SFF books by or about cis women are less likely to win awards than books by or about cis men. Trans and nonbinary authors do not win awards at all, and trans or nonbinary protagonists are extremely rare […] SFF awards have a problem when it comes to gender: they privilege cis men and the cis male experience over that of cis women and trans and nonbinary individuals.”
The Man Booker 2015 Shortlist is appalling
From the perspective of gender bias, specifically women’s voices, this year’s Man Booker Shortlist is far worse than usual. In terms of racial diversity, it’s pretty good: 4 authors of colour out of a total of 6. But women protagonists get short shrift.
Read moreBook bias gets magnified between shortlists and winners—some data
The data suggest that the step from literary prize shortlist to winner might be an important inflection point in the operation of unconscious bias against women in literary prizes. Or: this is where women’s voices are throttled.
Read moreMan Booker 2015 longlist: gender of the protagonists
A more granular look at prize-worthy fiction shows an even greater bias regarding the protagonists’ gender. This is why we count…
Read moreMore data on gender and literary prizes
Tweaking the Russ Pledge
The single most important thing we (readers, writers, journalists, critics, publishers, editors, etc.) can do to improve the visibility, on the shelves and in the media, of women writing about women, is talk about them whenever we talk about books.
Read moreMan Booker Prize 2012 longlist: zero novels by women about women
The 2012 Man Booker Prize longlist has been announced: Nicola Barker, The Yips (Fourth Estate) Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident (Sceptre) André…
Read moreHow to fix gender bias in book journalism
As my jet lag recedes and my brain returns I’m beginning to catch up on reading. Over the weekend I encountered Alison…
Read moreI’m a woman writer: I am unspeakably privileged
If you believe Teddy Wayne, I am, as a writer, unspeakably privileged: I’m a woman. In “The Agony of the Male Novelist,”…
Read moreYoda says ‘red’ (well, he should have)
Heavy into Hild world. Today, two links for you. A Sterling Editing links post, in which writers support each other, non-writers (but…
Read moregirls with Asperger’s
Here’s something I missed last week in Newsweek: Because they may have different symptoms than boys do, some girls with Asperger’s syndrome…
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Nicola Griffith 